Professor Peter Stuckey awarded Eureka Prize for computer science

Image via WikipediaA UNIVERSITY professor has won one of the nation's top science prizes for work developing a software platform dubbed a "lazy" problem solver.

Melbourne University’s Peter Stuckey netted the $10,000 award for Innovation in Computer Science at a black-tie dinner in Sydney tonight as part of the 21st annual Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

Professor Stuckey’s work provides a fast and innovative way of working out the most efficient use of resources. Its real-life applications include creating train timetables, staff rosters or helping with water usage allocation.

Australian Museum director Frank Howarth said the work addressed “extremely important challenges facing decision-makers in all areas”.

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“This innovation is a major technical achievement promising far-reaching benefits to society,” he said.

The development of “lazy clause generation” helps strike the right balance between two separate approaches to problem-solving for these sorts of tasks.

The category’s other finalists included Sydney University’s David Moss for a system of transmit information optically over silicon (CMOS) integrated circuits and Melbourne University’s Cloudbus Project to help “cloud computing”.

The Eureka Prizes, dubbed the "Oscars of Australian science" offer 20 awards and a total prize pool of $190,000.

The Computer Science section, sponsored by Google Australia, is awarded to the team or individual for an innovation in computer science that has the potential to improve the lives of many Australians.